Monday, March 13, 2017

We'll take a guided tour of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart located at Monroe Park and later have dinner at My Noodle restaurant.

At 6 pm we'll meet in the lobby of One Monument Avenue apartments and walk to the cathedral arriving about 6:20. Later we'll walk back to Stuart Circle for dinner at My Noodle restaurant.

Parking is available on the 1st level (street) of the parking structure across Lombardy Street from One Monument Avenue apartments and behind the First English Lutheran Church.

The address of the church is 1603 Monument Ave, Richmond, VA 23220.

All first level spaces are also good for you to park on evenings when the First English Lutheran Church isn't having a function EXCEPT those spaces reserved for Laurel Hill and marked with one of these two signs.

To repeat the above, do not park in spaces reserved for Laurel Hill. All others on the first level are ok.

Want to explore some of Richmond's most little known beautiful nature and history, get exercise with challenging hikes and meet a diverse group of locals that may become your new friends?

If so, you'll love James River Hikers - Hiking With History.

We will walk the trails by James River and to historical areas all over Richmond.

Our objective is for every hiker to have a good experience on every hike.

How about join us?

It has been recommended to me that it may be prudent to post some sort of warning or disclaimer to protect myself and any other James River Hikers in leadership positions from liability in the event something bad happens on our events and we get sued.

I am reminded of the release statement I was required to sign prior to going on a ride-a-long with the Los Angeles Police in the Fulton District which famously claimed to have more murders than any other place in America. The multi-page legalese document said in effect that by my participation I accepted there was a big chance I would be killed and when that happened it would have been my fault and no way would the police department be considered anything other than praiseworthy for helping me in every way possible.

Well when you get a big group like us doing all sorts of outdoor adventures, accidents eventually will happen. For example, three of our finest ladies have so far broken their ankles on our hikes. Here they are:

I believe this goes without saying, but I'll state it anyway. Our Event Organizers are not professionals at safety, first aid or much of anything else. We will however within reason do what we can to conduct safe heathy events. We all need to look out for each other on the trails and elsewhere. If a fellow hiker appears a little shaky, offer to help, ask if they are hydrated, etc.

But the participants ultimately need to take responsibility for their own welfare.

I personally cringe at boilerplate statements designed to protect institutions from the people they serve, but perhaps they have an appropriate yet distasteful place.

So I've pasted in below such a statement I borrowed from our sister local hiking club Central Virginia Trailblazers. BTW, as many of you know, they are a fine group, and I encourage you to join them.

The below statement is not as draconian as the Los Angeles Police Department's, but perhaps it makes the point.

Be cautious, be safe, be responsible, help someone else and cherish every moment that you have.